Home 5 News 5 James Daunt Ensures Tattered Cover’s Distinctive Culture Remains Intact 

James Daunt Ensures Tattered Cover’s Distinctive Culture Remains Intact 

by | Jul 11, 2024 | News

Following the announcement that Barnes & Noble (B&N) is to acquire Denver’s Tattered Cover – one the US’s most revered independent bookshop – B&N CEO James Daunt has sort to reassure customers that “this isn’t & Noble isn’t coming in, as such. It’s providing all of the structure. We’re there to provide all that is necessary for the teams to run a good bookstore.  Tattered Cover is going to figure out how it becomes Tattered Cover again.”

 

In an interview with the Denver Post, he made clear that this wasn’t about running Tattered Cover from a centralised head office, but rather was all about local empowerment.  It’s the store team that runs a good bookstore, whether it’s the Barnes & Noble in Fort Collins or Tattered Cover here,” Daunt said. “Some of them will do it brilliantly, some of them will do it shockingly awfully and some of them in between.”

 

In the UK, Waterstones runs Blackwells, Foyles, Hatchards, as well as Hodges Figgis in Dublin, under their own names and with their own particular style.  He told the paper: “What we’ve done is really empower those teams to reinvent themselves back to what they were,” Daunt said. “Hatchards now is most definitely not a Waterstones. It’s Hatchards. It’s a very, very distinct and different bookstore and dramatically more successful as a consequence of that.”

 

B&N has offered $1.83m in cash to buy Tattered Cover out of bankruptcy, covering $50,000 in back rent and $1.6 million in secured debt the store owes.  Tattered Cover’s parent company, Bended Page, approved the offer June 17, but the agreement needs the approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Denver. The closing is set to take place by July 31.

 

Daunt added: “I’m a student of other bookstores. I visited Tattered Cover in the past,” Daunt told The Denver Post while sitting at a table among the bookcases at the store’s main location on Denver’s East Colfax Avenue.  It’s obviously one of the great names in bookselling.”

 

 

Recent News

07Jul
New Era for Intellectual Property in UAE Academia

New Era for Intellectual Property in UAE Academia

Building on its growing international presence in intellectual property protection while reinforcing the UAE’s standing as a regional and international hub in this field, the Emirates Reprographic Rights Management Association (ERRA) has announced the signing of the country’s first-ever blanket reprographic rights licensing agreement with Heriot-Watt University Dubai. This pioneering step sets a new benchmark […]

03Jul
A New Identity Marks a Global Vision

A New Identity Marks a Global Vision

In a testament to its long-standing commitment to culture and knowledge, e& continues its partnership with the International Prize for Arabic Children’s Literature. First launched in 2009 by the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) under the name “Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature,” the prize was born from the vision of Sheikha […]

02Jul
Cassell places its bet on Alcaraz

Cassell places its bet on Alcaraz

As the world’s elite tennis players gather in Wimbledon for this year’s championships, Cassell – part of the Hachette group – has announced the acquisition of Being Carlos Alcaraz by tennis journalist Mark Hodgkinson. Garbiñe Muguruza, a former women’s singles world number one from Spain, has written the foreword. Trevor Davies acquired world English language […]

Related Posts

A New Identity Marks a Global Vision

A New Identity Marks a Global Vision

In a testament to its long-standing commitment to culture and knowledge, e& continues its partnership with the International Prize for Arabic Children’s Literature. First launched in 2009 by the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) under the name “Etisalat...

Cassell places its bet on Alcaraz

Cassell places its bet on Alcaraz

As the world’s elite tennis players gather in Wimbledon for this year’s championships, Cassell – part of the Hachette group – has announced the acquisition of Being Carlos Alcaraz by tennis journalist Mark Hodgkinson. Garbiñe Muguruza, a former women’s singles world...

Ryan and Amelina Win 2025 Orwell Prize for Political Writing

Ryan and Amelina Win 2025 Orwell Prize for Political Writing

Irish author Donal Ryan has won the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction for his novel Heart, Be at Peace. Ryan, from Nenagh, Co Tipperary, described winning the award as “a great honour and very unexpected”. "I was kind of getting past my imposter syndrome but it’s...

Previous Next
Close
Test Caption
Test Description goes like this